This invention relates to a humidistat with improved mounting. Such humidistats are adapted to sense ambient humidity and then control a usually remote device for humidifying room air. The humidistats are often mounted on a wall in the living area of a home, and control a humidifier or dehumidifier disposed in another area.
Various humidistat mounting devices have been used over the years. One such device is disclosed in the above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,217. Another device has been commercially sold by the Assignee of the present inventor for many years. This prior commercial device generally has included a humidity sensing cartridge enclosed in a housing, with the latter including a wall-mountable base and a cover attached to the base.
More specifically, the base of the prior commercial device was generally planar and provided a basically closed wall throughout its extent. The humidity sensing cartridge was mounted to the front face of the wall by screws extending therethrough. A cover was attachable to the base via forwardly extending spring clips on the base ends, which latched over projections formed on the cover ends.
The prior commercial device has been found to have certain disadvantages, especially related to the time and labor involved in assembling the unit. The base and humidity sensing cartridge had to be manually aligned to bring the attachment holes into registry, and then the devices had to be screwed together. Furthermore, manual alignment between the base and cover had to be accomplished before they could be joined.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved humidistat mounting which obviates the aforementioned disadvantages. It is a further object to provide a mounting which can be quickly and easily assembled without the need for screws or the like. It is yet another object to provide a humidistat housing which can be economically manufactured, and which can be easily assembled and disassembled at will.
In accordance with the various aspects of the present invention, a humidistat generally includes a humidity sensing cartridge adapted to be enclosed within a housing having a base and a front cover. The cartridge includes a plurality of engageable portions.
The housing base includes a peripheral frame which surrounds and generally defines an enlarged rear opening dimensioned to receive a humidity sensing cartridge therethrough. A plurality of flexible legs extend forwardly from the base frame and have cams and latches adjacent their forward ends. A plurality of rigid posts also extend forwardly from the base frame and include cams terminating in openings in the post walls. In assembling the cartridge to the base, the cartridge is passed through the frame opening from behind and rides onto the flexible leg cams and snaps into place. Stops on at least some of the flexible legs and rigid posts limit the forward cartridge movement. Furthermore, at least some of the posts include locating corners for properly positioning the cartridge. The leg latches may be constructed to accommodate cartridges of slightly different dimensions.
The housing cover includes a plurality of rearwardly extending flexible latch legs and a plurality of cams on its peripheral wall. When the cover is assembled to the housing base, the cams locate the base and the latch legs ride onto the cams of the base posts and snap into place.